Kawai Q-80 (Q80) Archive & Repository

[Rasputin]

Owners Manual / User Manual / Operation Guide:


Kawai Q80 Service Manual With Schematics:


Reset Procedure:
Hold [SELECT] while powering on.

Also, looking for a firmware dump of the OS ROM (from U3 - code ROM chip -- 27C512D type EPROM). If anyone can provide this it would be appreciated. Although one dump is available, still looking for validation dumps and/or alternate versions.

MIDI / SMF / Disk Utilities and Sequencer Data Management

Giebler has a commercial solution to this with their Kawai Disk Manager and Q80SMF bundle @ http://www.giebler.biz/product.sc?productId=9, but there is also a freeware equivalent.

Use Q80Util @ https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B3OQk ... XNaT0xZU2c to read/write the Q-80 floppy. Take the data dump from Q80Util and manipulate it with SeqMid 2.8 @ https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B3OQk ... HJRM1JQZXM or...

Legacy v2.7.2 of SeqMid for Windows:

If anyone has any ideas on how to natively read/write Q-80 floppies or how to update/convert/hack it to behave like the Q-80EX (as seen below) then please do contribute.

[Walter Ego]

Funny coincidence. First time I've logged in since the summer; I picked up a Q-80 with a bunch of accessories for peanuts. It appears to be working fine but I'm afraid the disk drive is wonky. It came with two boxes of disks and will not read any of them. Comes up "disk unavailable" for every function, including formatting, so I don't think it's just old disks. I've found one other forum member with the problem some time ago, but no solution posted. I realize this isn't the Help page, but any quick fixes?

[Rasputin]

Head cleaning?

[blueknob]

Thanks Mr R that's great. I just got me a Q80, it's fun. Thanks for the Service Manual I'll be giving that a close look

Things I've found so far. The SeqMid 2.8 is for 64bit windows, it doesn't run on anything less neither does the DOS version. I tried both and then contacted the author, who said he made a few updates and compiled on a 64 bit machine so lost any 32 bit compatability, apparently.
Home page: http://www.delicamusic.com/seqmid.php

Q80UTIL does work fine, it reads native Q80 floppy so SNG files can be transferred to the PC world.

Giebler is good (I have his ensoniq stuff, works perfectly) although I'm yet to spend $54(more than the Q80 cost me)

The User Manual seems to come in two versions, my printed version has 60 pages and not that great. The second version has 200 pages and gives examples with much better explanations. Motifs are much better explained in the latter.

I can do a firemware dump, I guess mine will be v1, I will investigate.

[Rasputin]

Things I've found so far. The SeqMid 2.8 is for 64bit windows, it doesn't run on anything less neither does the DOS version. I tried both and then contacted the author, who said he made a few updates and compiled on a 64 bit machine so lost any 32 bit compatability, apparently.

And the author is unwilling to provide any of the legacy binaries? That seems like the easiest solution. If not, then it's on to the karaoke forums to see if anyone still has a crusty old program from 10+ years ago sitting on a HDD somewhere.

Well, I just added the Windows version of SeqMid 2.7.2 in an edit of my first post, so maybe that's enough.

[blueknob]

Thanks for that Mr R, the SeqMid 272 version works (opens and runs) on XP just fine, looks fun. I've added a screen shot, LHS showing the input file and the RHS showing what the app will convert the data to. Looks great.
I did ask if the 64bit thing could be sorted, I didn't get a reply (a week ago), not that's a crime as I'm sure the guy is very busy with other more interesting things to do.



Looking at the circuit, seems like a doubling of the memory is easy done, just need the firmware to go with it.


Just a quick response to the member asking about floppy disk problems. My Q80 came with 12 disks, 11 were HD and only one was DDDS (750kb) - we all know the former may work for a while but data usually falls off the disk. Q80 needs the latter.

[Walter Ego]

Just a quick response to the member asking about floppy disk problems. My Q80 came with 12 disks, 11 were HD and only one was DDDS (750kb) - we all know the former may work for a while but data usually falls off the disk. Q80 needs the latter.

It looks like some of the disks are HD, but I did check the double density and it didn't seem to work either. I'll find a head cleaner and see if that does anything.

[blueknob]

UPDATE: The author of SeqMid has been kind enough to respond, saying the differences are due to the lastest version uses newer components (in the OS) that are not available in the previous OS. The good news is, when time permits, he will look into the matter. Nice.

[salwa]

Just a quick response to the member asking about floppy disk problems. My Q80 came with 12 disks, 11 were HD and only one was DDDS (750kb) - we all know the former may work for a while but data usually falls off the disk. Q80 needs the latter.

It looks like some of the disks are HD, but I did check the double density and it didn't seem to work either. I'll find a head cleaner and see if that does anything.

I know, that's easier said than done, but the best solution is retrofit it with USB floppy emulator. I've got it done to my Q80EX - I've found a guy, who retrofits old floppy drives (not only instruments, but also old computers, industrial machines etc.). It was generic emulator, so it needed tweaking (I've send him my Kawai). It costed me about 100$. Maybe there's someone offering similar service in your area? My FDD was working (although sometimes acting funny), but I have troubles finding working disc (I have only two working and one just died then, so I got scared).

[Rasputin]

I know, that's easier said than done, but the best solution is retrofit it with USB floppy emulator. I've got it done to my Q80EX - I've found a guy, who retrofits old floppy drives (not only instruments, but also old computers, industrial machines etc.). It was generic emulator, so it needed tweaking (I've send him my Kawai). It costed me about 100$.

If anyone is looking for a cost-effective solution to FDD emulation, try flashing a Gotek with HxC firmware. The Goteks can be had for slightly over $20, and the HxC license is only $12 or so.

Plus, the Gotek HxC firmware is getting updates weekly--if not daily--at the moment, so it's got pretty good performance and features for the price.

[Walter Ego]

If anyone is looking for a cost-effective solution to FDD emulation, try flashing a Gotek with HxC firmware. The Goteks can be had for slightly over $20, and the HxC license is only $12 or so.

I checked out the Gotek drives, and many of them are cheap. There are a bunch of different options, though (Amazon looks like the way to go in the US) and I am not sure which is the right one for the Q-80. Do you know which one is the right one? Is there more than one option?

Thanks for the tip!

[Rasputin]

I checked out the Gotek drives, and many of them are cheap. There are a bunch of different options, though (Amazon looks like the way to go in the US) and I am not sure which is the right one for the Q-80. Do you know which one is the right one? Is there more than one option?

I would personally go with this one (because it is black):
http://www.ebay.com/itm/3-5-USB-Floppy- ... SwQItUH8Vh

Pretty much any model will work, but the color of the casing matches and the 3-digit display is rather important.

This will not work stock. It must be flashed with custom firmware.

So, go here: http://hxc2001.com/store/

You also need a TTL USB programmer to flash the initial bootloader, such as the FT232RL (watch out for counterfeits though):

http://www.ebay.com/itm/FT232RL-FTDI-US ... Swys5WUhgX

Add in whatever cheap USB flash drive you stumble upon and you can outfit your entire studio with floppy emulators for about $40 per machine.

[Walter Ego]

I would personally go with this one (because it is black):
http://www.ebay.com/itm/3-5-USB-Floppy- ... SwQItUH8Vh

Pretty much any model will work, but the color of the casing matches and the 3-digit display is rather important.

This will not work stock. It must be flashed with custom firmware.

So, go here: http://hxc2001.com/store/

You also need a TTL USB programmer to flash the initial bootloader, such as the FT232RL (watch out for counterfeits though):

http://www.ebay.com/itm/FT232RL-FTDI-US ... Swys5WUhgX

Add in whatever cheap USB flash drive you stumble upon and you can outfit your entire studio with floppy emulators for about $40 per machine.

Thanks! This is great advice. I'll probably snag those items today. There doesn't seem to be anything else questionable about the Q-80, so if I get around to replacing and installing, I'll post an update.

[Walter Ego]

^^^
I snagged the floppy emulator and the TTL programmer. They're already marked as shipped. We'll see how the process goes when I get them next week sometime.

[Rasputin]

This is a good primer on how to wire the TTL to the Gotek for that initial bootstrap flash:

http://www.vogons.org/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=43416

Changing the Gotek into an HxC is the only "challenging" part. After that, all firmware updates are done through USB, so it's all copying disk images to USB and standard stuff if you need to update it or use it with a different machine and so on.